In Your Mind
by Lost-Remembrance
Summary: Going into the mountains is very dangerous, especially when you’re someone named Train Heartnet who attracts trouble no matter where he goes...


Disclaimer: I don't own Black Cat. The title is taken from a song from .hackSIGN and the Doctor Collin's is humbly named after Wilkie Collins.

Summary: Going into the mountains is very dangerous, especially when you're someone named Train Heartnet who attracts trouble no matter where he goes.

WARNING: Episode tag of when Train is traveling through the mountains and meets the Saya look-alike. This is just a different take/AU of that situation. It won't make much sense if you haven't seen/briefly know the episode. However there aren't any real spoilers to that episode.

Rating: T

Notes: Yup. I'll probably be hurt for posting this instead of an update for Catnapped! This has been lurking on my computer for a while and I figured I type up the rest of it and make it a one-shot instead of a multi-fic. Enjoy!

_**In Your Mind**_

By: Lost-Remembrance (Red Tail)

"Eve!" Sven cried, running up to her with one arm waving to catch her attention and the other holding his briefcase. Small beads of sweat were around his temple and chin area from the long run he had been forced into in order to keep pace with Eve. Who, of course, had opted to try her gift of flight to adapt her body more to the unused muscles she gained from the transformation.

The car had been left behind at a nearby inn at the foot of the mountain at a quaint little town they were staying at. Of course, the rumor mill and the sudden disappearance of their traveling companion was what sparked this little mini adventure.

Train had decided to go off and try to get to the Apostle of the Stars first, and hope to gain more distance without Sven and Eve, and not risk putting them in danger. Honestly, those were the only two reasons he could think of why Train would leave them so suddenly, other than the possible idea that it might be so he could face Creed alone. Personal vendetta's did do strange things to people, Sven dully noted.

The townsfolk that were a part of the rumor mill had also fueled the spark to go and find the infamous Black Cat before anything drastic happened to him. They spoke of the strange things and noises that happened in the mountain and it's region. Luckily, they said they were spared from the strange happenings. The inn keeper, a old woman of about fifty years, chortled as she added, "Of course none of the guests here are spared the moans and groans of that mountain!" They experienced them firsthand the first nightfall of their stay, the very same one that Train decided to run away.

'Honestly,' Sven growled mentally, 'You would think after all this time he'd have a little more faith in us. It's not like we'll…' His thoughts trailed off, mind refocusing on the subject of keeping an eye on Eve. Speaking of whom, he looked up to the sky to see a darkened shadow in the mist, "Hey, Eve! Fly a little lower, alright?" He was less concerned when he was able to see her more clearly in the mist than before.

His words had little effect on her as she still disappeared into the heavy veil. Sven didn't know what to make of the odd weather. Just before hey had entered into the mountain path it was sunny, and he didn't think clouds could change the weather this drastically.

Panting, he paused as he entered into a more heavy patch of the odd mist. He looked around, noting that there was almost no noise at all other than the slight breath of wind. Frowning, he strained himself to hear the animal cries that had once surrounded them as they made their way through the woodland trail into the mountain path.

"Odd." He turned his nose as he thought he smelled something different in the air. "Must be the altitude," he mumbled under his breath, "…air's supposed to be different in mountains…I think."

"Sven!" The green haired man jerked to attention and looked around, trying to find the source of Eve's yell.

"Eve?" Sven called back and, upon hearing no response, called back louder than last time. This time, his efforts were rewarded as she called back, and a shadowy figure appeared in front of him. He frowned, noting that the growing blob too hunched over and large to just be Eve.

Finally, the figure tore free from the shrouding mist and his vision cleared, showing a site he hoped never to see again. Eve was hunched over, Train being half-carried, half-dragged by the younger girl.

Sven ran forward and fell to his knees as Eve sank down to the ground as well. Train remained still. "What happened?" Sven questioned, instantly concerned over his partner's welfare.

"I'm not sure," Eve said, frowning as she tried to make sense of something. "I just found him, lying down in the middle of the path a little farther up."

Sven tugged at Train's clothing and looked for any bruises that would suggest internal bleeding or broken bones, but found no sort of injury other than some old scars and the familiar Chronos tattoo. He founded also.

"Sven…?"

"Yeah, Eve?"

"I think we should get out of here—go back to the village." A shiver ran down her spine and crawled up her arms. She looked around, but couldn't really see more than a few meters in front of her. The thought scared her, and her instincts were screaming at her that something was wrong. "I don't like it here." _Something's not right._ Eve's eyes communicated her silent words to the elder man.

Nodding, Sven took a deep breath and swung Train's limp body over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Then, with Eve by his side for extra support, they slowly began their trek to the village once more…

Exhaustion clung to his bones, and Sven knew without a doubt that his muscles—and probably bones as well—would be sore tomorrow. Train, while not being heavy, was still not the lightest person to be lugging around for at least an hour.

"We're here, Sven." Concern tinged in her voice. Not once, despite the jostling and probably awkward position, did Train stir or even flinch. A churning feeling overtook her gut, and she was at loss to what had caused Train to be so deathly still.

Quickly bursting out of her thoughts to see Sven struggling even more with Train's unconscious body, she dashed forward and opened the door to the inn. Despite the warm weather, there were few guests, which made this all the easier for the two of them.

"Oh my goodness!" The innkeeper's wife exclaimed, putting a hand up to her mouth. "What happened to him?" Her eyes were wide with panic. Obviously, she was unprepared to guests bringing in wounded people to their cozy little inn. They ignored her. Eve slipped behind Sven, following his lead, and darting her eyes around the now silent room in search for potential threats.

Sven struggled a little more, but finally managed to throw open the door to his room and lay Train gently on the bed. He put a hand up to his one shoulder and gently rotated the joint, hoping to return feeling to his poor limb. Already, he could feel it become stiff. It would certainly not help in any upcoming battles the trio might stumble into.

The innkeeper's wife looked at her regular customers, still silent in shock or confusion, and grimaced for a moment. Nonetheless, her mind was set. "All right, all of you. Go out—out with ya!" Her patrons grumbled, and some lingered as log as they could. She got no strong protests for her spur of the moment closing, for which she was thankful.

As the last one staggered out the door, bemoaning the loss of his fresh pint, he briskly closed the door behind them. Flipping the sign in the window to say 'closed', she then locked the door and turned her attention to more pressing matters.

Biting her lower lip, she strode over to the bar counter and pulled out an old fashioned telephone. Turning the dial, she waited impatiently for the other line to pick up.

"Hello?" Over the static, she heard the older man continue, "This is Doctor Collins' office, Marie speaking."

"Marie!" The elder woman started, "Send Doctor Collins over to the inn as soon as he can! One of my guests just brought back one of my other missing guests and…"

"Wait—what?" Marie questioned over the line.

"Just hurry and send his over as soon as possible! This is serious I think!" She quickly hung up the phone. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she sighed as she thought, 'I'm getting to be too old to do this.'

Looking down towards the hallway past the bar and dining area, she could see the lights turned on in room number three. They hadn't even bothered to close the door and give themselves privacy—not that they needed it. They were the only customers at the inn anyway.

Walking towards the room, she saw one of her patrons—Sven, she believed—hunched over the still body of a younger man. His cheeks were flushed, but the rest of his face looked deathly pale.

She took more slow and steady steps, allowing her heels to make enough noise to alert the occupants of the room they were no longer alone.

Quickly, the green-haired man swung around, body obviously tense and wound tighter than a spring. When he saw the visitor, he relaxed slightly, but not completely. He turned back around and returned his attention to Train.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I'm not sure. I've check over his body—there's no cuts, breaks, or other signs of injury. There's no swelling or infections."

"Could he be sick? Caught a cold, maybe?"

"Train only gets colds—he's never seriously been sick. And this is definitely not a cold."

"How do you know?" She hoped—no, prayed, that it was just a cold. Highly unlikely, yes, but maybe he'd been struck down by a regular spring virus?

"He isn't responsive at all." To which Sven rubbed his hand into Train's sternum, hoping to elicit a flinch or other signs of life other than simple breathing. "Not to pain, movement, or words. Nothing."

"I've called the doctor. He should be here soon." She watched as Sven fell back into a chair and run his hands through his hair. His hat was thrown over onto one of the many tables in the room. Eve remained where she was throughout the entire conversation, resting on the floor by Train's bed. One of her hands was close to Train's, but was not touching. She looked lost in her own world.

Quietly, the innkeeper's wife turned on her heel and exited the room to go and wait for the doctor. She couldn't help the growing guilt blooming inside of her…

The doctor sighed as he wiped his forehead with his hand. Train lay on the bed, fever still ripe on his cheeks and forehead. Looking up, the man spotted Sven and Eve, waiting impatiently for the doctor's diagnosis.

"Well?"

"Did your companion happen to go into the mountains nearby here?" The doctor asked, sitting in the chair closest to Train's still form.

"Yes." Sven frowned, confused by the question. At his answer, he saw the doctor reach into his bag and pull out a syringe of a opaque blue substance. "Why?"

The doctor didn't look up from his work. He took an alcohol wipe and swabbed the inside of Train's listless arm. He tapped the syringe a few times and made sure there were no stray air bubbles before slowly injecting the liquid into Train's bloodstream.

"Doc?"

Once more, the man sighed. "Well, I'm afraid those mountains are very dangerous."

"Yeah, apparently there are spirits that haunt those grounds."

The man snorted, gaining Sven's curiosity. "If only it were that simple. No, those mountains were once the only economy for this little town. Mining was one of the only living's people could survive comfortably on. But, things began to happen. At first it wasn't noticeable—after all, there were so many workers that would work from day to night. Then, more and more people began to fall ill. Some went crazy and ended up committing suicide. Others fell into deep comas and couldn't wake up. We had no idea what was going on. At first, everyone thought that it was because of the trauma from one of the shafts collapsing. Quite a few good men died in there. And then, they sent the canary down. It was already too late by then. It died quickly. One of the men noticed that the other bird in the cage that wasn't sent down to the shaft was acting strange as soon as they entered the mountain trail. Before they were half way in, the poor thing was dead."

"What are you trying to say?" Eve whispered quietly, looking back at Train.

"I'm saying that when that shaft broke down and collapsed, something got knocked loose—a gas that killed over five people in this little town. Ever since then, this…mist…is condensed particles of that damn stuff."

"Do you have a cure?" Sven quickly questioned, mind racing. There was no way his partner could die—not after all that they had been through together-not with all that they still needed to do! He was the infamous Black Cat, goddammit!

"Yes." The doctor said, lifting a heavy weight off of their shoulders. "But, there is still recovery that has to be done. An antidote can only do so much. I think you got him out of the mist in time though. A couple more hours and his respiratory system, and possible nervous system, would have crashed."

Sven just bowed his head. Eve frowned at looked over at Train, still unable to picture the ever strong, constant figure in her life, dead or dying.

"I have just one question." Sven quietly said, not looking up to address the doctor as he gathered his things. "Why? Why were we not told that that mountain is a dangerous route? Why didn't any of them tell us?!"

The older man sighed, and could feel the years adding up in his bones and his heart. "This little town has suffered through a lot. After the mining had to be shut down, folks had to find other means of survive. Luckily, the soil here is as fertile as can be. However, during certain seasons, this town attracts quite a bit of tourists to try and find some of the ghosts of the deceased miners."

Sven was disgusted. "And those tourists?"

"None of them ever die, if that's what you're asking. After hearing the stories at the inn, and then hearing them all over town, most folks just keep local. They don't see the need to travel all the way over to the mountains."

"What about travelers, like us?"

The man's eyes softened and he sighed heavily, putting his hat on his head. "You wouldn't have gone far. Somewhere in that mountain, the path got blocked when the town on the other side got wind of our gas leak. They blew up the pathway—sealed it shut."

Sven narrowed his eyes but said nothing. Eve simply clenched her fists, but refused to give one more glance at the doctor.

The silence was deafening in the room, and the doctor shuffled in uneasiness. "Well, I'll be taking my leave. Marie will be in contact with Selphie if his condition takes a turn for the worse and I have to make another visit." He paused for a moment, "Try to keep his temperature down and look after him. He'll start to awaken from his coma, hopefully, in two at the least. The longest it's taken someone is seven days. Make sure that he's kept hydrated if you can—but don't drown him either. Selphie can help you if you don't understand anything." He finished, referring to the innkeeper's wife.

Sven nodded and continued his silence. The doctor walked out, closing the door behind him to give the occupants some privacy…

"Sven," Even began, not looking up from gazing at Train's unmoving form. Lightly, she took the damp washrag and dabbed at his forehead, trying to keep him cool from the burning fever. His voice didn't sound as raspy as it had before the doctor had arrived. Sven came over to Train's bedside, looking at Eve in confusion. "He looks like he's troubled."

Sven turned away from the window and the setting sun. It had already been one day since Train had been administered the medicine. Already they had had one scare that rattled Sven's nerves…

_Eve looked up from the book she was reading and saw Trains hand twitch. A spark lit up in her eyes, thinking that Train would be starting to wake from the chemical-induced coma. "Sven!" She called, "He moved!"_

_Sven entered into the room, and he also saw Train's hand jerk. He briskly walked over to the unoccupied side of the bed, waiting in anticipation. However, what they were hoping for took a turn for the worse._

_Train's body began to twist and writhe, turning into a full-blown seizure. The eldest Sweeper sprung into action, moving through the motions of doing his best to make sure Train didn't hurt himself or axphixiate. Eve was frantic, and ran out of the room, bringing back a harried Selphie who had phoned the doctor as quickly as she could…_

_Train's breathing had stopped sometime after the seizure, leading the doctor to perform other medical procedures on him in their small rented room. Sven didn't quite know what to make of the situation. The doctor mentioned something about pneumonia or a lung infection because of inhaling the poisonous material._

_The rest remained a blur. The doctor's voice eventually cut through the fog once again and stated the horrifying possibility, "It is possible that the gas managed to affect his nervous system as well as his respiratory system. Although his coma can be blamed on the gas, I hoped that there would be no other symptoms relating back to brain trauma or poisoning. This seizure, though…"_

"Sven." Eve stated again, calling him from his wandering thoughts. Smiling in apology, he walked towards the bed and leaned over Train to get a good look at the young man. He peered at his partner's face, looking for the usual lines that showed when he was worried, frowning, or having troubling thoughts. He tilted his head to the side, mumbling a light, "Hmm…"

"Do you think he's dreaming of something?" She questioned lightly, continuing to peer down at his face, hoping to find the answer there.

Sven lightly smiled. "I don't know Eve."

She remained silent for a moment, thinking and studying every line and contour of his face. Then, suddenly, she leaned down and put her ear to his chest. "His heart sounds faster than normal." She leaned back up.

"Is that so?" Sven couldn't also help but wonder what Train was dreaming of, and hoped that if he was, they were good dreams.

_Saya? What…how is this possible?_ His finger twitched, body finally beginning to show some response as the antidote helped speed up the half-life of the chemical flooding through his system. This, however, remained unnoticed to his friends.

And Train continued to dream on throughout the night…

Morning broke, and not too long after that, the birds were merrily chirping in the dewy trees. The townsfolk began to stir, ready to start anew. One trio, however, still rested sound asleep in this rented room.

Eve was curled up in an armchair, using her arms as a pillow. Sven had taken up a rather uncomfortable position on an old wooden desk chair. His hat rested on his face, shielding his eyes from the rays of sunlight that crept through the curtains. Train had shifted sometime in the night after all the other occupants had drifted off, and was sprawled out on the bed, a slightly damp rag residing on his forehead.

Train shifted, his arms and legs creating a light shuffling noise of cloth. A frown appeared on his face, which quickly turned into a grimace. His chest rose and fell in a faster time than before, and his stance went rigid.

"No." He mumbled under his breath. His finger twitched once more, pulling the imaginary trigger of his faithful gun. "No." He breathed again, tossing his head to one side. Sweat began beading on his forehead once more and the rag fell free. His hair was spiked up in odd places because of the sweat and water.

Sven stirred slightly in his sleep, but otherwise remained lost in his own dreams. Eve frowned briefly, as if sensing a shift in the air, before nestling herself back into the big warm and comfy chair.

By this time, Train was panting. The sun was already rising in the sky, and not far off in the inn, a cuckoo clock sounded that it was nine o'clock in the morning. Distantly, the innkeeper and his wife were beginning to stir, ready to start cooking breakfast for any visitors and their only guests.

Trains breathing hitched, and his arms and legs twitched spurratically, as his body went through his dream sequence.

"SAYA!" He shouted, lurching forward up off the bed, eyes jerking open and frantically looking around. Sven and Eve jumped awake, searching the room for any intruders or unwelcomed Apostles before settling their eyes on the panting Train Heartnet.

"Train?" The brunet had calmed his breathing down and was already noticing the change in his surroundings.

Train frowned and looked up in response to his name. He took a breath and started to speak before stopping. E frowned and looked down at his chest, expecting to see white bandages. "Sven?" He questioned, looking up to his partner who was slowly edging towards him. "What happened?"

"What do you remember last?"

"I was in the mountain… there was a girl and a battle between her and these…" He paused in confusion, hoping to bring his thoughts to some level of coherency, "…She looked like…"

Sven frowned, "Train," he began, "You've been in a coma for the past two days."

Train jerked his head up, looking with wide, golden eyes at Sven. "That's not possible—I…"

Sven sighed and sat down in the chair once more. Then, he slowly began to retell all the events that had happened while Train was missing in the mountains and also while he was in a coma…

"But I was so sure…" Train frowned and paused, trying to let his thoughts catch up with him. He was still tired from his ordeal, and his chest still felt a little heavy—as the doctor assured him he would.

"Train," Eve broke into his trailing thoughts, pulling him from his musings. "Are you all right?"

Train grinned, his cocky mask slipping easily into place to hide his storming emotions. Saya's smiling face flashed in his mind and a sharp pull in his chest almost made his twitch as he also saw her pooling blood. "Ah, I'm alright Princess." He paused, letting Eve raise an eyebrow before nodding and trotting off after Sven. Still, his stride was slow rather than light and springy.

"Train?" Sven now questioned, his visible eye lit with worry. The doctor's words resounded in his head—talking about rest, relaxation, half-life, and possible relapses or "bad days". "Are you okay?"

"Yes. It's nothing." Train turned slightly, looking back towards the distant shadowy mountain. He turned back to face his friends, hoping to bury the incident in the dark recesses of his mind. "It's nothing at all."

OWARI


End file.
